Additional Components

The remaining components will not have as much of an impact on performance, but they are still important. A cheap display, for example, will limit your maximum resolution in games. The low-end power supplies that come with many cases can cause instabilities that are difficult to track down. Your hard drive might also run out of space if you find yourself installing numerous games at the same time, ripping CDs to MP3 format, and/or storing movies on your system. Here, then, are the remaining components, in no particular order.

Hard Drives
Target Segment Component Price
Budget Seagate Barracuda 80GB EIDE model 7200.7 (PATA Hard Drives) 59
Mid-Range Seagate 160GB SATA 7200RPM 8MB Model ST3160023AS (SATA Hard Drives) 93
High-End Western Digital Raptor 74GB SATA 10000RPM 8MB Model WD740GD 173
High-End Maxtor 300GB SATA 7200RPM 16MB Model 6B300S0 207

The two major factors in the hard drive segment are capacity and performance. We recommend 80 GB 7200 RPM models with 8 MB of cache as the bare minimum for any hard drive, as getting less than this can noticeably affect performance while saving only $10 or $15. With the more expensive models, you get increased capacity, except with the Raptors, which instead go for faster access times and sustained transfer rates. RAID 0 is also an option for increasing transfer rates, but our testing has shown that you are not likely to notice the difference in many tasks.

Optical Drives
Target Segment Component Price
Budget Lite-On 16X DVD-ROM Model SOHD-167T 30
Mid-Range NEC DVD+/-RW Drive Model 3500A (DVDR Drives) 72

We have only listed two optical drives, a 16X burner and the other, a 16X DVD-ROM. 8X and 12X DVDR drives are also sufficient and can save you a bit of money. We suggest that anyone building a system should add in a DVDR these days, as they are very handy for doing large backups of critical data. If you're sure that you don't need the capability to burn CDs and DVDs, we prefer DVD-ROM drives. They only cost $10 more than CD-ROM drives and we are starting to see more games shipping on DVDs. It is much more convenient to install from a single DVD than from multiple CDs.

Cases and Power Supplies
Target Segment Component Price
Budget Athenatech A602 Black/Silver with 350W PSU 62
Mid-Range Antec SLK3700-BQE with 350W 91
High-End Antec True480 480W PSU 95
High-End Antec Lanboy Aluminum 96
High-End Ultra X-Connect 500W PSU 98
High-End Thermaltake VA3000 Dream Tower Tsunami with 400W PSU 135
Mid-Range SFF Shuttle XPC SN95G5 (AMD socket 939) 299

Depending on your personal tastes, a case can be simply a box to hold your components or it can be a fashion statement. Some cases are built to be more accessible than others, but once a system is assembled, that doesn't matter anymore. The only factors that you will notice are the noise level and appearance. For appearance, SFF cases are a reasonable suggestion, while noise levels are harder to address. Some people can tolerate higher noise levels than others, and you can always try to find lower RPM fans or install a fanbus in order to reduce the noise levels. Larger 120mm fans can also reduce the amount of noise emanating from your case by moving the same amount of air as a faster spinning 80mm fan. The power supply will also contribute to the noise levels, but more importantly, a low end power supply can actually cause a high end system to crash. The AntecTrue480 and the Ultra X-Connect are both high quality parts that should allow even the most powerful systems to run reliably. They won't improve performance, but we value stability over performance.

Displays
Target Segment Component Price
Budget Samsung 793DF 17 Black/Silver CRT (1280x1024@75 Hz) 139
Mid-Range Samsung SyncMaster 997DF 19 CRT 234
High-End Samsung 172X 17 LCD 429
High-End NEC/Mitsubishi FP2141SB-BK 22 634
High-End ViewSonic VP912B 19 LCD 12ms 710

Like the case of your system, displays can either be a functional unit or a statement of style. The latter generally requires the use of an LCD panel, as it is hard to consider a bulky CRT as stylish. If you can afford it and have the desk space, a large 22" CRT still provides what is arguably the best gaming experience. Whichever path you choose, remember that a high quality display can easily last through three or more computer upgrade cycles. The initial investment may be painful to bear, but $600 for six or more years of quality use is a good investment.

Speakers and Sound Cards
Target Segment Component Price
Speakers Logitech Z-640 5.1 52
High-End Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS 75
High-End M-Audio Revolution 7.1 92
Mid-Range+ Logitech Z-5300e 5.1 THX Certified 159
High-End Logitech Z-680 5.1 THX Certified 236

Finally, we come to the sound category. For most users, integrated audio is more than enough to handle even the most recent games. If you're something of an audiophile, we recommend spending more on speakers before you look into purchasing a better sound card. Once you're at the $200+ speaker price point, however, a separate audio card can provide a noticeable difference in sound quality. If you happen to notice a high-pitched hiss coming from your speakers, an add-in card can also cure that ailment. While the audio codecs and sound processing capabilities are usually sufficient with integrated audio, some motherboards do generate a lot of noise.

Of these parts, the only areas that we would really suggest that you take a look at are the displays and hard drives. Capacity is our primary concern with hard drives, so if you store a lot of movies and music on your system in addition to games and other documents, a larger hard drive would be almost a requirement. For the displays, given their longevity relative to the rest of the system, upgrades can be with you for years to come. For gaming, we definitely recommend getting a display that can handle the highest refresh rates possible. Enabling VSYNC (Vertical Synch) will avoid tearing, but it can have a massive impact on frame rates. Running with VSYNC disabled, on the other hand, will result in noticeable tearing in many games. (Tearing is what you get when the frame buffer is updated while the monitor is in the middle of refreshing the screen's content.) At refresh rates of 100+ Hz, tearing is very difficult to notice; however, at 60 to 75 Hz, we definitely feel that it results in a loss of image quality.

Core Component Summary Conclusion
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  • JarredWalton - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    Xsilver - We really don't know when AGP will be fully phased out. It could be mostly gone in a year, or it could stick around for four more years. With NVIDIA's HSI bridge chip, they should be able to continue to support AGP as long as it's a reasonable market, and with dramatically faster processors more or less on hold for a year or so, I would expect AGP to continue to get support for at least two years. It might come a little later than the latest PCIe cards, but that's better than nothing.

    Regarding the choice of motherboards, right now I would have to go with the Abit or ASUS boards over the Gigabyte. Some people like Gigabyte a lot, but I'm not really one of them. The boards always seem to have issues - my one Athlon XP system with a Gigabyte board has constant "overheating" problems, even though temps never actually break 60 C. The motherboard *thinks* the CPU is running too hot. I've never been seriously disappointed by Abit or ASUS, so that's what I would take.

    Moletus: the 6800LE is available, mostly in Europe, but short of unlocking the extra pipelines there's no real reason to go with it. The 6600GT is close in performance to the 6800, and the LE is going to have the same number of pipelines with a lower clockspeed. If you can't find the 6600GT, or if you want to take a chance on unlocking the extra pipelines, the 6800LE is worth a shot.
  • xsilver - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    Also some news on WHEN Agp is going to be phased out would be good.... are the next gen nvidia/ati products still going to be availble with AGP? if not, it would make sense to switch now?
  • xsilver - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    I am considering the second AMD option -- want to know more about the choice of motherboards
    Where I am, only the abit, asus a8v and gigabyte "Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939" are abailable which is nf3 based...
    I've heard good things about the nf3 but bad things about this particular gigabyte board.... is the abit still the way to go? the gigabyte is actually the cheapest though... marginally
    The MSI nf3 is also availble but is $45 more..

    Is the abit going to be the most stable with the best ability for good overclocks?

    And on stock cooling/voltage how much could be extracted out of the 3000+ / 939? is 2.4ghz guaranteed?
  • thebluesgnr - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    This guide bothers to add an option for those who want an Intel processor because there are AT readers that prefer Intel platforms (processor+chipset), even knowing gaming performance is a little better on AMD.

    I'm not one of those readoers though ;)
  • Pollock - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    I assume stock cooling for all processors...

    ...but what about the OEM 3000+? $140 at Monarch...
  • moletus - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    You really cant blame Intel only machines for stability problems. (just finished playing hl2 with p3-800 and ati 8500, and no im not a masochist) And on the long run i think Intel boxes will outlive any Amd counterpart, and yes i would buy Amd too :)
  • MAME - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    oh, the only thing I am curious about is why even bother putting the Intel counterparts in there in the first place? AMD has the clear advantage over Intel in gaming. Since Intel's offerings are more expensive and perform worse, I really don't see a reason to go that route.
  • moletus - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    Hey where is 6800le ? i havent seen a single thing about it, even thou you can buy one.. atleast in europe, no benchies no nuttin :( i woulda bet that beats any price/performance ratio when you get those pixel pipes running (with luck:)
  • MAME - Sunday, November 21, 2004 - link

    prepare to be bombarded by everyone who thinks they can save $2 and build a much better rig

    anyway, looks pretty decent to me
  • Christian Fitchett - Thursday, February 20, 2020 - link

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